


Eddie and PBP

by deltorafray



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Meet-Cute, Peter works the counter at a fast food salad joint, Tony is CEO of Stark Industries, i don't know what to tell ya, that's it really
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-21
Updated: 2021-02-21
Packaged: 2021-03-18 11:29:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,102
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29608764
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deltorafray/pseuds/deltorafray
Summary: Peter works at a fast food salad joint in Manhattan. He gets regular delivery orders from someone who works at Stark Industries by the name of Eddie, ordering the same thing every time. The customer himself never drops by the store until one night
Relationships: Peter Parker/Tony Stark
Comments: 25
Kudos: 198





	Eddie and PBP

“Hi! Welcome to SaladStation! What can I get for you today?”

Peter’s been working at this fast food joint for almost two years now. It’s a nice place. The pay’s decent, his co-workers and manager are really nice, and it’s within walking distance from his NYU campus. Plus, the food he gets to eat during breaks are a lot healthier than what he’d usually get.

The customer Peter is serving looks overwhelmed at the array of fresh salad ingredients spread out over the counter, brows furrowed as her eyes dart across the multitude of choices through the glass. She decides on one of the curated menus instead and Peter dutifully punches her order in as Ned goes about building her salad while he takes care of the next customer.

SaladStation isn’t a franchise so people outside of Manhattan may not have heard of it. Peter usually explains it as basically a Subway without the bread. You can either customize the whole thing and pick out what you want in it, or choose one pre-made from the menu. They also sell smoothies.

Peter likes the customizability of it. But he understands how first-timers might be overwhelmed at first. They have 4 times as many ingredient choices as they do at Subway. So many choices of fruit, veg, nuts, protein, you name it.

\--

“Eddie’s put in another order,” Peter informs Ned, looking up from his computer.

“On it,” Ned confirms, already moving to work on it. “Someone’s having a late lunch.”

Peter glances at the clock. It’s half past three in the afternoon. “Busy guy.”

Eddie is one of their regulars who exclusively orders for delivery through the app. He doesn’t order everyday, but on the days he does, he always gets the same thing. A custom salad with arugula base, with add-ons of broccoli, shredded carrot, roasted pumpkin, grapefruit, pumpkin seeds, raisins, topped off with a yuzu vinaigrette. Everyone working in the store has his salad order memorized already. The only thing that varies in his order is the type of smoothie he gets. This time he’s decided on the mango-pineapple-honey-coconut water. He seems to like those on cloudy, rainy days. Peter wonders if it makes him think of more sunny, tropical places.

Peter prepares the paper delivery bag, places Eddie’s food in there with the receipt, writing a note on it, as he usually does.

_The skies might be gray, but we hope you have a nice day!_ _😊 – PBP_

Peter hands over the bag to MJ, their delivery girl, telling her that it’s for Eddie. She nods, not needing to look at the address on the bag. She knows where to take it. Stark Tower, just a few blocks over.

\--

Peter once asked her what Eddie looks like.

MJ shrugs. “I don’t know. I never met him. He’s always requested to have it left at the lobby receptionist. They always know when it’s for Eddie.”

Whoever Eddie is, not only is he too busy to pick up his order, he’s always too busy to drop by the store himself. They’ve had customers who work at Stark Tower come in during lunch hours, their Stark Industries badge clipped visibly on their pockets. It’s not too far from the tower and Peter assumes the short walk would be better than the extra delivery fee. But not Eddie. So far, they’ve never had a customer from Stark Industries put their name down as Eddie on their order, and none of them order that particular arugula salad they all know so well.

So Eddie’s a busy man, that much Peter knows. And despite always paying for delivery, maybe he’s a little tight on money too? His salad order are all the basic ingredients at the cheapest price points. He never gets the more premium ingredients like the feta or quinoa or smoked salmon. Busy man with a budget and impeccable routine. Maybe he’s an intern, or a low-tier employee.

Peter imagines someone with an ill-fitting suit hunched over a desk, working hard, or bustling around running tasks for his superiors. Stark Industries is a prestigious company and Eddie must be incredibly smart on top of diligent to land a job there. Peter finds himself admiring the guy. It would be a dream come true to be able to work at Stark Industries once he graduates.

Maybe that’s why Peter likes to leave those little notes on the receipts. It’s not required of him to do so. But he likes to think that he’s bringing a little bit of cheer to the hard-working guy holed up in his office

\--

“Dude, Eddie’s salad is legit good,” MJ says with her mouth full. “We should put it up on the menu.”

“I’ve been telling you,” Ned says, sweeping the floor after they’ve closed up. “But Harrison doesn’t think a full on arugula salad would be popular.”

It’s true, arugula sells nowhere near as well as the romaine lettuce, baby spinach, or the increasingly popular kale with their customer base.

“That’s because he hasn’t tried _Eddie’s_ salad,” MJ insists. “Come here, Pete, try this.”

Peter’s had Eddie’s salad before but he’s not going to turn down a bite of it so he pauses on his counter wiping and lets MJ feed a spoonful into his mouth.

It really is very good. The arugula’s nutty, bitterness is complemented extremely well with the soft-textured sweetness of the raisins and grapefruit. The broccoli and roasted pumpkin adds substance while the shredded carrots and pumpkin seed creates a lovely crunchy topping. The yuzu vinaigrette is one of their less popular dressings but it brings it all together in a really fresh, tasty way. The salad is light, but filling, with none of the heavy, unhealthy ingredients disguising itself as a salad like bacon bits and mayonnaise.

It’s not a very attractive, fancy salad, so Peter kind of gets why Mr. Harrison, their manager, doesn’t want to add it to their menu. But he really thinks if people really give it a chance, get to know how good the salad tastes, they’d really like it.

Peter wonders if that’s what Eddie is like as a person. Someone unassuming at first glance, but really incredible once you get to know them.

Peter might be going a bit overboard with his little fantasies.

\--

Another late night shift and Peter has about an hour before it’s time to close up. He told Ned to go ahead and take off early. Poor guy’s got an assignment he procrastinated and is due tomorrow. Peter’s alone in the store while MJ is off for a delivery, but it’s fine. They don’t get many customers at this time anyway.

Peter’s just tidying up the kitchen to get a jump on the post-closing clean up when the bell above the door rings, signalling a customer. He looks up and does a double take.

The man who walks in the store is dressed in a suit, just like the day workers they usually get from the office buildings around Manhattan. But the difference is, this man’s suit looks to be a hundred times more expensive than your average corporate drone, dark rich fabric perfectly cut to his form. What gives him away, though, is the tinted designer glasses perched on his nose, the perfectly coiffed dark hair, and the neatly trimmed goatee.

It’s Tony Stark, CEO and owner of one of the biggest tech companies in the world.

And he just walked into the fast food joint where Peter’s working.

“Hey. You still open?” Tony Stark asks, looking around the deserted store.

“Yeah,” Peter says, though it comes out embarrassingly high-pitched. More like a squeak. He clears his throat. “Yeah, we’re still open. What can I get you, sir?”

Tony Stark walks up to the counter and takes off his glasses, folding it into the pocket of his suit jacket. Peter feels frozen on the spot. The man looks so much more handsome in real life with his chiselled jaw and sharp nose. Peter can see the thick lashes framing his deep brown eyes from where he’s standing and he can barely concentrate on what the man is ordering.

“Can I get an arugula salad with yuzu vinaigrette, add carrot, broccoli, roast pumpkin and the seeds, grapefruit, and raisins? To go, please. And the All Berry smoothie.”

The familiar order snaps Peter out of his flustered daze and he blurts out, “ _Eddie_?”

Tony Stark raises an eyebrow, peering at him with a small, amused smile. “You can put that name down on my order if you want. That’s what I usually use when I get it delivered.”

Peter must still be frozen, gaping like a fish because Tony Stark, the man they’ve been making lunch salads for almost every day, tilts his head at him.

“I know I’ve never been to the store before, but is this like a self-service thing? Or are you gonna make me my salad?”

“No, uh…” Peter shakes his head, trying to focus. “No, I’ll be making it. Um, just a moment, sir.” Peter quickly punches in the order and Tony pays for it, handing over a black American Express card. Peter swipes it with slightly trembling hands and asks Tony to wait while he prepares his meal.

Tony doesn’t sit at one of the tables of the empty store, preferring to stand leaning on the wall next to the cash register as he watches Peter make his salad. Peter can feel the man’s eyes on him and while he tries to ignore it, it still makes him nervous. Fortunately, he’s made Tony’s order so many times before, he pretty much has it memorized, grabbing the ingredients without looking at the list on the receipt.

“Guess you guys are real familiar with my order, huh?” Tony comments, still watching him.

Peter smiles at him. “Yeah, we’ve been calling it the Eddie salad. It’s really good. We think it should be on the menu.”

Tony nods. “I’d be okay with that. Would be easier for me to order on the app. I won’t have to click a and scroll through a bunch of ingredients.”

Peter stays on one end of the counter as he makes the salad, the end where they keep all the basic ingredients. “How come you don’t have any of the premium ingredients on your salad?” Peter asks curiously. Surely someone like Tony Stark could afford those add-ons.

Tony frowns. “What are premium ingredients?”

Peter gestures towards the premium end of their ingredient counter and Tony walks over to peer through the glass at them. They’ve got lots of the trendy stuff people like nowadays, things like tempeh patties and smoked jackfruit, as well as the protein like sous-vide chicken and seared tuna.

“Hmm, no offence, but I’m not really into any of those,” Tony admits. “Believe it or not, I’m a simple kind of guy.”

So Eddie isn’t the ‘unassuming at first’ guy that Peter thought he would be. He’s the kind of guy who could see past all the complexities and get back to basics, create something incredible out of a pile of ordinary things.

As Peter places the order in a paper bag, the realization hits him. “Anthony _Edward_ Stark!”

Tony laughs. “Geez that just gave me PTSD. You sound like my mother whenever I got into trouble.”

“That’s how you’re Eddie!” Peter grins.

Tony glances down at Peter’s nametag. It just says Peter there but Tony says, “And would you be ‘PBP’, then?”

“Peter Benjamin Parker.”

Tony smiles. “Good to know the cute notes come from an equally cute guy.”

Peter blushes. Is this happening right now? Is he really standing behind the counter at a fast food joint wearing a lime green apron and a hairnet, with Tony Stark _flirting_ with him?

“You like them?” Peter asks shyly.

“They really make my day,” Tony says, and he looks like he means it. “I look forward to them every time.”

“Can’t have you leave without a note then,” Peter says, plucking the receipt from the bag and scribbling something on it, bent over so Tony can’t see what he’s writing. He folds it up and tucks it back into the bag with a smile. “Enjoy your meal, Mr. Stark.”

“I have a feeling I will,” Tony says, throwing him another smile. God the man is so handsome it should be illegal. “I’ll see you around, Peter.”

And with that, Tony puts his glasses back on and leaves the store.

Peter stares after him, heart pounding.

 _I’ll see you around_.

Peter really hopes so. Especially after he sees Peter’s number written on the receipt.

**Author's Note:**

> Tony's salad order is my exact salad order at a similar place we have here. Except I'm just a cheapskate who only picks the basic, cheapest ingredients lol. I know it's a bit uninteresting but I literally came up with this in the ten minutes while I was having it for dinner so. It's just a sketchy doodle. But if you liked it, let me know! You know I'm always a whore for validation ;)


End file.
